The editors of Supply &Demand Chain Executive magazine have chosen Derek Smith, newly appointed chief commercial officer for GHX, as a 2013 "Provider Pro to Know" for his work in driving the development of software solutions that create a more connected, efficient and streamlined supply chain infrastructure for the healthcare industry.
Now in its 13th year, the Supply &Demand Chain Executive "Pros to Know" awards recognize both ends of the supply chain. This includes the "providers," individuals from software firms, service providers, consultancies or academia who helped their supply chain clients or the supply chain community prepare to meet industry challenges, and the "practitioners", those supply chain executives who demonstrated leadership by managing risk in the supply chain, provided competitive advantage, and delivered value to the bottom line.
Honored as a "Provider Pro to Know," Smith is leading an effort at GHX to address what healthcare providers and suppliers say is one of their biggest challenges - the highly manual, disjointed and duplicative processes surrounding the use of implantable medical devices (e.g. hips, knees, cardiac stents, etc.). Today, implantable devices are responsible for an estimated $5B in annual losses as a result of waste, inefficiency and lack of visibility in the supply chain. To address this industry-wide challenge, Smith and his team are uniting the various parties to the healthcare supply chain in the development of the industry’s first implantable device supply chain (IDSC) solution. Through point of use data capture and process automation, this solution has the potential to dramatically reduce costs while maintaining the product quality needed for patient care.
This year, Supply &Demand Chain Executive received close to 400 entries for its 2013 "Pros to Know" award program. The magazine’s editor, Barry Hochfelder, commented on the program and this year’s winners:
"It’s not always initially clear as to how broad the scale of the supply chain and its challenges really is," said Hochfelder. ―If there are those present in the industry who are working to overcome such issues and grow the global supply chain at the same time, they should get the recognition they deserve for their achievements."
About Supply &Demand Chain Executive
Supply &Demand Chain Executive is the executive's user manual for successful supply and demand chain transformation, utilizing hard-hitting analysis, viewpoints and unbiased case studies to steer executives and supply management professionals through the complicated, yet critical, world of supply and demand chain enablement to gain competitive advantage. Supply &Demand Chain Executive is a publication of Cygnus Business Media. Visit us on the Web at www.SDCExec.com and on smart phones and tablets at www.SDCExec.com/mobile.
About GHX
Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC (GHX), a healthcare technology and services company, helps reduce the cost of doing business in healthcare by enabling better supply chain management. GHX makes it easier for hospitals, other healthcare providers and the suppliers that do business with them to drive cost and inefficiency out of their processes. Working with GHX, the healthcare organizations that make up the GHX Global Network are on track to save $5 billion by 2014—savings that can be invested in such things as hiring more nurses, providing care to uninsured children or developing new medical products. GHX is owned by organizations on both the buy and sell side of the healthcare supply chain, including some of the largest companies in the world. Find GHX on the Web, on Twitter @GHX_LLC and on Facebook @GHX and get a global perspective on healthcare industry news, issues and trends at the company’s blog, the GHX Healthcare Hub.